Driven By Love

by D. Anne Paris

  Anne walked back to her soup and ate slowly as she contemplated what was going on between them.

  *

  “Evan, don’t you dare blame yourself!” Anne snapped over the phone as she paced around the cabin. “None of this is your fault!”

  “Of course it is. I was driving,” he told her as his voice filled with grief. “I should have known something was wrong when I first got on to the highway. I should have paid more attention, but I was just so happy that Missy…” His voice trailed off as emotion choked his words.

  “Evan, I swear to you this is not your fault! You and Missy are the innocent victims!”

  “How do you know that? You weren’t there.”

  “The police and others think that someone tampered with your brake lines.” Anne hoped he got the message so she wouldn’t have to spell it out to him in case the phone lines were bugged.

  “Why would I be a target? It had to have been something I did.”

  Anne could tell he was not himself. Normally he would have picked up on that comment but he was so distraught and probably drugged up too. With him so injured she wondered if his healing power was even working. She knew he had some limitation when he got sick, so she assumed that he was probably not able to use his power since he was still injured.

  “We know how meticulous you are about maintaining your car. It’s not your fault.” She glanced up and saw Dean descend the stairs.

  None of her words seem to get through to him. “It’s my fault Missy’s hurt. I can’t even heal…”

  “She’s not going anywhere, Evan.” Anne cut him off before he gave anything else away. “Missy’s a fighter and she will pull through.”

  “I love her, Anne. I never got to tell her.”

  Anne felt a pit in her stomach. Evan loved her little sister. Everyone in her family got the impression that he did, but he never flat-out told anyone. Missy rejected him so many years ago and yet he still loved her. Anne felt tears fill her eyes. That was true love. Missy had it right in front of her all these years and she never knew it. She traveled all over the world and had so many men date her and give her jewels and clothes and anything else imaginable, but not one of them gave her their heart like Evan.

  She inhaled a deep breath and calmed her emotions. “You will get to tell her that when she wakes up, okay? Now, you go and rest yourself. Mom says that you’ve been by Missy’s side the whole time and you’re not taking care of yourself.”

  “I can’t leave her.”

  “Go and take a nap, Evan. Mom and Dad will wake you up if anything changes with Missy. Do I need to come down there myself and drag your ass to bed?”

  His depressed voice broke her heart. “I’ll take a nap.”

  “Good. I’ll talk to you later.”

  “Okay.”

  With that she shut off the phone and tossed it on the couch as she rubbed her eyes in frustration.

  “I take it Evan is taking this pretty hard?” Dean said, as he grabbed a bottled water from the fridge.

  She twisted towards him and sighed. “He loves her.” Tears began to fill her eyes again and she pressed her lips together to stop the tears. “All these years that she’s treated him like shit and he still loves her. I just…I hope…” She got up and she headed towards the stairs to the deck. “I need some air.”

  She went up the stairs, sat on the deck, brought her knees up to her chest and stared up at the night sky.

  Was Missy and Evan’s relationship really built on true love or did Missy persuade him to love her? There was a time when Missy borrowed her mother’s sweater without asking, and when her mother confronted her she persuaded Anne to think that she took it. Anne was so convinced that she took it and kept apologizing to her mother for days. It wasn’t until a few weeks later that it hit her that she was framed. It caused one of the biggest fights she ever had with Missy and would have caused a war in the house if her father hadn’t intervened. He grounded Missy for a month and drilled it into all of the Stevens children that the main rule of the house was “No using powers on family members.” And they never broke it.

  But did Missy follow that rule when she was with Evan? Did she persuade him when he came to pick her up that he was in love with her? What if Missy enjoyed having Evan walk behind her like a puppy dog? Or worse--what if Missy was using her power to make Evan stay in love with her? The thought left a bad feeling in her gut.

  Chapter 11

  The slight breeze in the air made Anne’s hair sway gently and cloaked her face from the world as if protecting her from all of those who just wanted a piece of her. Dean walked over to her and handed her the wine cooler as he sat down next to her.

  “Thank you.” She unscrewed the cap and took a sip.

  “Back when I was in Iraq, I would sit outside just like this and look up at the stars in the sky.” The hot night air reminded him so much of his time during his tour of duty. Those long boring nights would have drove him crazy if he didn’t have his ex-girlfriend Alexandra Broder. Without a thought he blurted out, “My girlfriend worked with a private firm that hired military-like personal so our schedules were insanely crazy, but when we did have time we would sit out in the desert, look up at the stars, and make up some stupid constellation names and stories of how they came into existence.”

  She looked up at the stars again. “Where is she now?”

  Images from the last time he saw her flashed to his mind. They were on a mission to track down a particular terrorist that was on the watch list and were en route to intercept him. Dean was in charge of the mission and their orders were simple. Find the terrorist, catch him, and if possible bring him back alive. Previously, Dean was able to track one of the terrorist’s commanders and they knew that he would have led them right to him. When they cornered the terrorist, he tried to run away, and Dean and Alexandra went after him while the rest of the group rounded up the other people in the terrorist cell. Alexandra was the first to catch him and shot him point blank in the head. When the rest of the team arrived, she blamed Dean for the death. Dean felt like he just had a knee kick him in the gut as his heart shattered.

  Later during the investigation, Dean was exonerated when the evidence clearly pointed to Alexandra. When he confronted her, the anger in her eyes was overwhelming. “You don’t understand, Dean. That bastard was one of the guys behind the attacks that killed my dad!”

  “What does that have to do with you framing me?” he spat back.

  “Because if they send me back home I won’t be able to track down the other bastards.”

  “So, you decided that getting me out of the way will help you?” Everyone on his team had special powers that only those in the group knew about, including Alexandra. Teeth clenched, he screamed at her. “You’re forgetting who was the one who found them.”

  “I can still find them without you.”

  “By searching through the dark?” he retorted referring to her power to see at night. “That will be like finding a needle in a haystack. Good luck with that.”

  There was no retort or sympathy from her towards him over the next few days. He heard that she was court-martialed for lying and had some sentence to complete. Dean didn’t care about the details, nor did he care what happened to her afterwards. She broke the trust of the whole team, and most importantly, she betrayed him, and he would never forget that.

  “Honestly, I don’t know where she is and I don’t care.”

  The heartache of that betrayal now hurt a lot less than before. Maybe there was hope for him. He wanted to love again but his mind kept screaming that he had to take it slow and be careful. As he glanced over at Anne, his heart started to feel warmth again.

  Oh, he was so screwed.

  *

  Anne sipped the wine cooler and wondered if Dean still had feelings for his ex. Was that why he pulled away from her before? Did he feel guilty? Was she not the type of woman he wanted to get involved with? Growing up she learned to use all of her Dad’s rifles and guns but th
at didn’t make her a soldier or a mercenary like his ex was.

  As she slowly turned her head towards him their eyes locked. The moonlight gently caressed his face, which gave him almost an eerie glow and reminded her of jaguar hiding in the night, waiting to pounce at any moment on its prey. Somehow Anne no longer felt threatened by him. He’d stood by her all the way. None of her previous body guards would have taken her to their private residence or boat as in Dean’s case. Was it because he felt it was his duty to protect her by any means necessary or was it something else?

  His eyes quickly darted away from her and focused towards the water.

  Why do you turn away from me? her heart asked.

  She looked up towards the twinkling lights in the sky and pondered the past few years of her life. There was so much that happened to her so fast. “When I married my ex, I thought that it was the best thing for my career.” She blurted out. “He was famous, handsome, and had the connections I needed. When I caught him in bed with that girl, I didn’t feel my heart break. I felt like I was betrayed by my business partner instead of my husband. I was more concerned with the fact that my career would get hurt than anything else.”

  She glanced at him, saw that he continued to stare out at the water, and continued her confession. “I used him just as much as he used me.” Placing her lips over the bottle, she took another drink from her wine cooler and looked over the lake. “My dad was right. I have become selfish and care only about myself. I was never like this. I just…I just didn’t want to live paycheck to paycheck like Mom and Dad did.”

  “You’re not a selfish person, Anne. You help a lot of people in your life.” He glanced over at her, “From what Jeri tells me it sounds like you had a pretty nice childhood.”

  Her head bobbed, causing her hair to cascade around her like a dark veil. “I did. I never said it was horrible for me. Mom and Dad always made sure we had everything, but I know that it took a toll on them and I know that they now will barely have enough for retirement. When I had the opportunity to use my gifts to make a decent amount of money, I just grabbed it. Then that movie role came along and I grabbed that, and I guess I got sucked into all that glamor and totally forgot what’s really special in life. Now I look at Evan and Missy…” She looked down and ran her finger over the condensation on the bottle. “What they have is so special. Missy just doesn’t know it.”

  “You can tell her when she wakes up.”

  She softly chuckled and looked at him. “I’m sure that Evan will beat me to it.”

  “I know he will.” He took another sip and asked, “Have you ever tried to talk to your Dad to explain how much you love what you do?”

  Every time she tried to talk to him directly he would always hand the phone over to Helen. It was a constant battle that she was tired of fighting. She shook her head and bit down on her lower lip.

  “You need to talk to him and tell him about how you helped Stacey.”

  “He won’t listen. Even Mom tried to get him to talk to me once and he just hung up.”

  Dean looked out again at the water as if the answer to her problem laid there in the lake.

  Anne continued to play with the condensation on the bottle. “I love my family, Dean. I would do anything to keep them safe and happy.”

  “Anne, what if Missy’s accident wasn’t an accident?”

  She took another sip of her drink. “What are you saying?”

  “Why would someone want to cut the brake lines on Evan’s car? This person was obviously after your sister. Does she have any special gifts?”

  Anne’s finger stopped and never moved from the bottle as she plainly told him, “That is a question you will need to ask Missy.” Was he just that perceptive that Missy had some sort of gift because she was her sister or was that another gift that he had? Whatever it was she had no right to tell him anything personal about Missy.

  “Anne, do you know of anyone that would hurt Missy? Someone she didn’t get along with, maybe an ex-boyfriend?”

  She shook her head. “Missy’s last boyfriend dumped her. She was heartbroken for weeks before she could move on.”

  “Did she have any obsessed fans?”

  “Obsessed as in stalkers? Not that I can remember.” She continued her thought silently careful not to betray Missy's secret. Anyone who vaguely came too close to Missy and even started to try to be obsessed with her was instantly stopped by Missy’s power of persuasion. Anne’s mind began to reel. What if someone did find out about Missy’s power and was threatened by her? There were many two-faced people in the world and she would have never known they despised her until they stabbed her in the back. That would have made the most sense as to why they would want to hurt her.

  What if Missy never regained consciousness? The cold thought pierced her soul and her eyes welled up with tears as everything bottled inside her just burst out and she couldn’t keep it at bay. Missy’s accident, her father’s ridicule of her, the cut brake lines on Evan’s car, her fragile state after communicating with Evan’s car, the onslaught of constant paparazzi not giving her a moment’s peace… it was just too much.

  The tears trickled out and soon she couldn’t stop them.

  The feel of Dean’s strong arms around her opened the floodgates even more. She couldn’t remember the last time she cried like this. She hated it, she felt so vulnerable and yet being in Dean’s embrace made her feel safe. It felt like she cried on Dean’s shoulder the whole night. When her sobs finally died down, she lifted her head up from his shoulder to stare back at him. She slowly brought her face towards his.

  Please don’t turn away. Her heart pleaded. I need this. I need…you.

  He pulled back. “We… uh, it’s late.” He stood up and extended his hand to help her to her feet.

  Anne avoided his gaze and stood up without his help. “You’re right.” She was thankful it was dark so he wouldn’t see the hurt of his rejection in her eyes. “Good night,” she told him as she bolted down the stairs two at a time and ran into the bedroom.

  As she locked the door behind her she plopped on the bed and silently swore at herself for being such a fool.

  Chapter 12

  Anne raced down another hallway with Dean right on her tail. They didn’t speak much at all that morning and the ride to the hospital was just as quiet. They took Logan back to where Ken parked Hawk and then took Hawk back to the hospital. It was a long process, but that was the only way they could get anywhere without having a horde of people following them.

  They stopped at Missy’s room, flashed their studio IDs to the guards and opened the door. She stopped in her tracks. Marshall Foss sat next to her mother and was holding her hand.

  “Marshall?”

  “Anne, darling,” his gentle British accent oozed. “I came as quickly as I could.” He got up and walked over to her, extending his arms out.

  Anne felt tears sting her eyes. Marshall started out as a great professional adviser but then slowly became a good friend to her. He was always so caring towards her--never missing her birthday and always sending well wishes to her before a new movie premiere. Most other men in the industry that she met always tried to push a sexual relationship with her, but not Marshall. He kept their relationship at the friendly level and never pushed for anything more. She probably could have pushed for more, but there was no chemistry between them.

  Seeing her surprise, he stepped in and gave her a hug. When he released her, he smiled.

  “I was so shocked to hear that your sister was hurt.” He motioned to her mother. “Your mother and I had quite a nice chat and I offered her the services of some fine doctors to help Missy heal faster.”

  “You really don’t need…”

  “Oh nonsense, my dear. A beautiful woman such as your sister needs the finest care in the world to help her heal quicker.” He glanced around the room. “And this institution isn’t where she will get it.”

  Dean stepped in front of Anne, “I think that the Stevens family needs
some time alone, Mr….”

  Marshall gave Dean a look of annoyance. “Foss, Marshall Foss. I’m sure you have heard of me. I’ve produced some of the most successful movies in the industry.”

  “Oh, I’m sure you did.” Dean’s sarcastic tone made Anne grind her teeth. There was no reason for him to be so nasty towards him.

  “Thank you for stopping in, Marshall,” Anne politely told him. “Maybe we can have dinner after Missy recovers.”

  Marshall smiled back at her. “That would be lovely, my dear. I’m actually going to be staying in town to attend to some business so if you or your family need anything at all just give me a call.”

  “Marshall, I really can’t…”

  “Nonsense, my dear. I won’t take no for an answer.” He moved towards her but instead stepped right into Dean. “My good man, I mean her no harm.” He reached out and took hold of Anne’s hand and gently kissed it. “A beauty such as yourself should be cherished. I will stop in from time to time to see how things are. “

  “Marshall, you don’t need to…”

  “Darling, I must. I feel such an obligation to help those in need.”

  “Then go save some dolphins.” Dean bluntly told him.

  Marshall smirked, “You need to curb your bodyguard, my dear. He might say the wrong thing to the wrong person.”

  With that, he said his goodbyes and left the room.

  “Who the hell was that?” Dean growled.

  Anne stared angrily at Dean. What the hell was his problem? “He’s a friend.”

  “The hell he is.” He muttered and left the room.

  Did his nostrils just flare up? Was he jealous? There was no way. He had his chance last night and he blew it.

  *

  Dean walked out into the hall and narrowly missed being run over by an orderly with a wheelchair. When he rolled past, he walked further away and began to pace like a caged lion.

  Friend? He didn’t believe it for a minute. A casual friend wouldn’t travel thousands of miles and pay for anything the friend and their family needs.